​﻿CITYNOTES

IS THIS THE WAY WE WANT TO RAISE HIM UP?

Baltimore -- and all the other cities in America -- we need to explore why no one wants to pay for public goods. The kids and young adults who vandalized Baltimore on Monday night are a consequence of policy decisions we have made as a society ever since the Reagan administration: People don't matter (unless they are affluent, able, and self-sufficient). Now we see where that has taken us. While this might not necessarily be a racist policy (to give them the benefit of the doubt), there is no question that this policy approach is disproportionately devastating to African-Americans and women who, collectively, constitute the majority of poor in this country -- most of them concentrated in cities because, again, we made the policy decision to warehouse poor people in cities.

As a society -- urbanites, suburbanites, red states, blue states -- we need to take responsibility for the way our policy decisions have shaped our cities. When will we start investing in ALL people, families, and communities? When will we start investing in programs and policies that foster human flourishing, resilient communities, and inclusive wealth creation for ALL?

The teenagers who have acted out in violence are the result of family systems and neighborhoods we have produced. We can do better.